Tainted Freedom
by anime-dark-fairy
Summary: In a world where the Shadow War has forced the remainder of humanity to live behind a barrier, an Organisation that calls itself 'Shield' has offered all the solutions... Or have they? Cloud and Leon, an Agent and his partner, work to survive in an increasingly dangerous world. It also seems that there are people who wish to take a hidden power for themselves. Yaoi, Cloud/Leon.
1. New Mission

"_Has he been found yet?" The voice was deep and threatening as it addressed the messenger before him._

"_No my Lord..." Came the meek and near silent reply. When there was only silence in answer the messenger quickly scrambled to report something that may spare his life, "H-However our, uh, our scouts believe he resides within Shield boundaries... Most likely H-Hollow B-Bastion... My-My Lord."_

"_It nears the time that the power orb will become active... He will be twenty one in but a few short weeks... If we do not obtain him before then..." The deep voice faded off into silence as he pondered the new information. "You are certain it is Hollow Bastion?" The powerful one continued._

"_Uh... N-n-not c-certain my Lord, h-h-however it is the m-m-most likely..." Came the shaken reply._

_An almost unearthly growl filled the darkened space and the messenger was sure in that moment that he was dead, before a strict feminine voice sounded near by._

"_Do not shoot the messenger for your pawns' mistakes."_

"_Do not lecture me on how to treat my property." Was the icy reply, but none the less the powerful one calmed himself slightly._

"_What news do you bring of his identity then? And it had better be good." Came the warning, from the deep voice that struck fear into those who heard it._

"_He is called Fenrir, my Lord." Came the eager voice, sensing a chance at redemption in the question and grasping at it desperately._

"_Good." Came the reply. "We shall just have to find this 'Fenrir' then."_

_Taking the hint, the messenger was quick to scramble from the room with thanks to Hades for his continued life allowance._

"_You do know that if you are unable to attain him by the time be turns twenty one, we will have to take more extreme measures to obtain the power within him... Measures that will most likely have to be his continued life and forced cooperation." The disgust was clear in the female's voice at the thought of not being able to take power for herself._

"_Do not mistake my absence for ignorance, Maleficent. If I have not laid claim to the power that boy contains before he ages that final day, then I will lay an unshakable claim to the boy himself." Came the assured reply. "'Fenrir' will not escape..."_

_And with that final sentence an order was issued to infiltrate Shield boundaries and locate the one called Fenrir in preparation for the last step in a plan that had spanned centuries..._

* * *

Crystalline blue eyes shot open as their owner sat up with a gasp. His body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat as he looked around the familiar setting of his bedroom. It had been nothing more than a dream, but dreams were a common thing to him in his line of work, and were therefore more accurately called nightmares.

With a sigh he ran a hand through sleep-tousled blond spikes as he willed his heart rate to slow down and for his breath to come back to him. As had been happening much more often lately, the dreams were so vivid and real in his sleep, but upon waking they quickly faded from his mind leaving nothing but the impression of darkness, fear and attacking shadows.

He almost jumped when there was a soft knock at the door, but he quickly composed himself, it was a common occurrence for him now.

"You can come in." He said softly, knowing that the person on the other side of the door would be able to hear him. Sure enough the door opened to reveal a man with shoulder length, wavy brown hair, swirling grey-blue eyes that bordered on silver and a large scar that ran diagonally down his face from above the top of his right eyebrow, down over the bridge of his nose to end on his left cheek.

"You ok?" The man asked, his voice deep and smooth, yet nearly completely void of emotion.

"I'm fine Leon." Came the even reply, slightly forced on the blond's part. He received a raised eyebrow in response as Leon made his way into the room properly.

"You know that I can tell when you're lying, don't you?" Leon asked, as he watched the still slightly alarmed look in the blond's eyes continue to slowly dissipate. "Another nightmare?"

Any reply that Leon might have received was cut off when the shrill tone of a mobile phone cut through the room. With a growl of annoyance the blond reached over to his bed side table and grabbed the insulting device. With a quick glance at the caller ID, he answered.

"Strife here." He kept all emotion from his voice, while his eyes strayed to the brunette that was by now sitting comfortably at the foot of the bed, no doubt getting close enough to listen into the conversation.

"_Cloud, good to hear from you man!"_ Came the familiar, and rather annoying in Cloud's opinion, voice of Axel, or otherwise known as the Dancing Flame within Shield.

"It's not mutual." Cloud responded coldly, "What do you want?"

"_Ouch man! That hurt." _Was the sarcastic response before the teasing dropped to make way for the real reason he called at 4am in the morning, _"There is a new mission to be assigned to you and your partner, so get your ass up and get your gear together. Pack for a boarder land hunt. There will be a transport to pick you up from base at 04:30, you will receive mission details then. Don't be late."_

Cloud grunted an affirmative before ending the call, uninterested in listening to the fiery red-heads antics for any longer than necessary.

"I'm guessing you heard that?" Cloud asked his companion as he slid from the warm covers of the bed and made his way over to the cabinet that held his gear.

"Yeah. I wonder what is by the boundaries that Shield wants this time..." The brunette mused as he watched the blond pull his usual black, sleeveless, turtle-neck over his sleep bare chest.

"Who knows, as long as we get paid for it, we can't complain. We need to put food on the table after all." Cloud responded as he finished getting dressed and proceeded to equip his usual weapon of choice; a large multi-bladed sword dubbed the First Tsurugi, along with whatever else he deemed necessary for the dangerous lands by the boundary. Lastly Cloud adorned his personalised wolf-head pendant.

"All set?" Cloud asked, turning to Leon.

"Just need my Gunblade." Was the simple response. It came as no surprise that Leon had already been up and dressed by four in the morning. The brunette hardly slept, no doubt a result of his junction.

The two were out of the house within five minutes, and heading off towards the Hollow Bastion train station, it had been their own decision to live away from the base in Twilight Town despite the fact that it meant they had a twenty minute travel to reach their destination. It was worth it to them though; they both loved the privacy they got from living so far from both base and the middle of town.

The train ride went by quickly and the two soon stepped out in Twilight Town's train station, it was there that they saw the familiar red spikes of Axel along with his scowling, blond haired charge Roxas.

Neither Cloud, nor Leon was surprised to see the two waiting for them. This was a common occurrence when the two pairs were grouped together for a mission. Still Cloud couldn't help but sigh as they exited the train and headed over to the others. Axel's constant habit of talking and jibbing was irritating. Leon shot him an understanding look.

"Cloud. Griever." Roxas greeted when they were in hearing range. His voice, as always, was formal and cold.

"Roxas." Cloud responded with a slight tilt of the head, Leon just nodded in his direction in a way of responding. It was extremely rare, if unheard of, for Leon to actually speak to someone, with Cloud possibly being the only strange exception since they were pared together. It was also how he ended up simply being named after the creature he had been junctioned with at such a young age; Griever.

"Heh, Cloud, don't you just look radiant this morning." Axel drawled with a suggestive look to his eyes. Cloud simply ignored him and focused on the shorter blond agent instead. It was well known that Axel had a very, _very_, large sex drive and would take anyone to his bed. It was also something that the young blond agent despised in his Guardian.

"Let's go." Roxas said sharply, "We will be late otherwise."

Cloud nodded his agreement and soon the four left the station and were heading down hill, the darkened streets were only lit by the bright streetlights interspersed every few houses apart. Making their way down through the main square where Trouble matches were often held, the group left Twilight Town itself and headed into its outskirts. Just past a small copse of trees a large, mansion like building could clearly be seen, this was their location. This was the headquarters of the organisation that called itself 'Shield'.

Upon reaching the gate that blocked entrance to the grounds of the base, Cloud and Roxas gave their agent identification to the security guard and after a quick check the group was admitted. From there they quickly made their way towards the building.

On initial entry into the structure, one would find it looked just like any mansion of its era; it had two grand stair cases leading to a second floor balcony that skirted the large foyer room and lead to multiple doors that would conventionally lead to bedrooms and the like on the second floor. The ground floor also had an array of rooms that would conventionally lead to things like kitchens, sitting rooms, dining rooms and more, there was also a large, well looked after courtyard directly across the lobby and out a large glass sliding door beneath the second floor. Yet under the surface of the look, there was small indicators of there being more to the building; many of the doors had intricate locks and security measures, and tucked into the very left hand corner just after entering the house, a large elevator could be located.

Under the house itself was where the base was truly located; it was down there that the base held its operations centre, a large indoor training room, medical centre, multiple transmission rooms and a series of unique information rooms and offices that each served its own purpose. On the ground floor there were indeed sleeping quarters to be found, but each one had caches of weapons stored or places for the individual weapons of the agents and Guardians they accommodated. The courtyard seconded as another training area, only the wild bushes and trees created an area served as a containment for monsters and creatures for its users to train against.

Without so much as a second glance at any of this Cloud, Roxas, Axel and Leon made their way into the elevator and proceeded to descend to the usual meeting room the four would go to in order to receive their mission briefing and special supplies before heading to whatever transport usually awaited them.

Once they each received their personal briefing packages, they left the room and once again ascended to the foyer floor of the building before moving outside. As promised there was a car waiting for them, the engine already running. It was a simple vehicle, meant to transport agents without being noticed.

Once they were all inside the vehicle, the interior of which had been modified to allow the group to all sit facing each other in the reminiscence of a limousine, they moved off. An unknown driver manned the car, and none of the group paid much attention to him; as was company protocol. After that, they each opened their briefing package and read up on the details of their mission.

"That's it?!" Axel exclaimed after finishing reading. "They want the four of us to go damn treasure hunting again? Come on!"

"Axel, if it was merely 'treasure hunting' as you called it, then both our groups would not have been assigned to the same mission. Being near the boundaries is dangerous enough, but this object must be very important as well." Roxas said, rolling his eyes at his Guardian's antics.

Cloud sat quietly next to Leon, simply memorising the task ahead. They were required to travel to the 3rd district of Traverse Town, one of the many areas that had been abandoned when the shadows attacked, and even now that the boundary was up people still refused to live so close. From there the four of them needed to cover the entire district in search of an information orb that had been lost in the district when it was abandoned. Cloud figured that with such a large area to cover, they were expected to split into their respective groups to half the search time.

Feeling a questioning gaze on him, Cloud looked over to Leon who, as usual, seemed to refuse to talk in the presence of other people. Leon pointed out a section of the briefing to Cloud, indicating that he didn't quite understand the objective. Looking over, Cloud saw that it was the history of the area that had Leon confused. Each briefing usually came with a history of the subject area to make sure the agents and their partners understood how a place or its people came to be how they are, or simply to keep them informed of anything that may need to be understood.

Following Leon's finger Cloud read the small section that described how the people still refused to inhabit the area despite the boundary.

"The people in Traverse were hit first when the shadows attacked," Cloud explained quietly, voice low enough for Leon's ears only, "A lot of people died in the first few waves of attack, and many of the survivors were seriously injured. It was through sheer luck that they managed to close the gate to the district and hold the shadows off. When Shield came, offering a solution to the ever increasing panic of attack the people jumped at the chance to live without fear again. Shield spent weeks pushing back the darkness from the district, and once that was achieved they placed down the last piece of the barrier that spanned from the Destiny Islands, to the Olympus Colosseum, and around all the remaining towns that hadn't been too far infested and they activated the boundary. The boundary began just outside of the town limits and ended up being the closest edge of the boundary to a living population. The district was in ruins by the time it was over, and when people saw that, and they realised that the 'boundary' was nothing more than a barrier of energy they grew afraid that the shadows would break through. The district remained abandoned."

Once Cloud had finished the explanation Leon nodded to show his understanding. Cloud simply sat back after that and watched the world go by out of the darkened window. The first light of the morning was only just breaching the horizon, leaving the land in a mix of stretching shadows and grey scale colouring. The slightest shimmer of the boundary could just be seen, high over the land, in the bright light.

He, among other agents, knew that the boundary was not perfect, but so far the most threatening shadows that anyone had been able to see make it past the boundary were the occasional little fluff-ball looking things that were practically harmless.

For some reason Cloud felt that this might not last for long, but he quickly pushed the notion aside; while he had long ago learnt to trust his instincts, he knew that if the boundary failed then the remainder of humanity was lost.

The drive didn't last much longer after that, and the group soon arrived at the entrance to the 1st district of Traverse Town. Leaving behind the now memorised briefing packages the group exited the car and waited for it to disappear back the way it had come before moving into the town proper.

The large square of 1st district was still mostly uninhabited at this early hour, but a few of the early risers were up and about.

Making their way over into 2nd district, Cloud couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, yet he could not locate the source of this feeling and soon pushed it aside. The sooner they finished this mission the better. At the entrance to the 3rd district the group was stopped by one of the usual sentries that stood guard to the district.

"The district is closed." The tired sentry muttered as they approached. "No one in or out under Mayor's orders."

"We are from Shield." Roxas informed the man coldly. With those words the sentry suddenly stood straighter from his tired slouching and cast more alert eyes over the group, taking in the look of the weaponry the group all possessed.

"Uh, names please." The man requested, voice clear and alert, "It is regulation to register who goes in and out, even from Shield. Oh, and weapon types if you will."

Roxas gave a heavy sigh of annoyance before responding.

"The Keyblade," Roxas stated lifting his weapon, "I am called the Key of Destiny."

It was protocol for agents and Guardians alike to go by their titles when in public. It was too dangerous if a mission went wrong for a person with a grudge to know the real names of the people who worked with Shield.

"Chakrams," Axel declared proudly with a small flashy display of his two weapons. "I'm the one and only Flurry of Dancing Flames! Or simply Dancing Flame for short."

Cloud stepped forward after that in place of Leon.

"His weapon is the Gunblade," He said simply, "And he is called Griever."

As was almost expected the man did a double take, and his eyes widened slightly in recognition of the name. After all the pair was one of the best in Shield and their names were well known among the population.

"And yours sir?" The sentry asked, a slight shake to his voice as Cloud drew the massive sword from his back, holding it with practised ease in one hand.

"First Tsurugi." He said, giving the name of his blade. "I am Fenrir."

* * *

**Well this story idea has been rattling around in my head for quite some time now so I finally decided to write it. I would really appreciate some feed back on this one though; good, bad or in-between. :)**

**I would like readers to keep in mind that the background to the groups, people, and things in the story will be explained as the story progresses, but if anyone would like to ask anything about the story, feel free to ask either by review or PM.**

**Enjoy!**


	2. Collapse

**Thank you all for the responses I got about the first chapter!**

**Pyro wolf: Haha thank you for the review, and don't worry too much, I am glad you stated your opinion, and I didn't take it badly at all, I promise! Once you said that though I did have a look at that other story and realised that I had read it before. So I apologise for any similarities at first, however the plot line in this is going to go in a completely different direction soon :P So there is no need to worry about that. I hope you continue to like the story.**

"_Listen Strife, this is the last time. Either you get a partner or you leave."_

_Cloud looked up at the man staring down at him, Xigbar was well known within Shield for working just below its shadowed leader, aside from that the man struck an impressive figure. He wasn't huge exactly, but neither was he small, and his clothing did nothing to hide the muscles of the sharpshooter while the eye patch and jagged scar that adorned his face did nothing to make him less imposing._

"_No." Cloud replied, being careful not to aggravate any of his many injuries. _

"_You no longer have that choice." Xigbar returned calmly, "We know that after your last partner-"_

"_Shut up." Cloud snapped, the effort hurting several of his broken ribs. Xigbar simply raised an eyebrow in modest amusement before continuing._

"_Your partner has already been chosen for you." The tall man said simply, "You're lucky the boss requested you get the best available."_

_Cloud just continued to glare at his superior. How many times had he told them that he wouldn't accept any more partners?_

"_I know that look Strife. Drop it; you have landed yourself in the intensive care ward one too many times to keep working alone. You just seem to attract trouble, and you can not handle it alone." Xigbar growled. "Besides, your new partner should suit you; he refuses to talk to people, a trait of his junction I think, but his skills are very impressive."_

_Cloud just continued to glare at the man before him and silently fume at both him and Shield's illustrious boss, who no one knew anything about. Some times he wondered why he ever agreed to join Shield in the first place._

_Without bothering to wait for a reply he knew he wouldn't get, Xigbar instead moved to the door of the small room and called Strife's new partner in. Cloud only glared at Xigbar's back for a moment before turning uncaring eyes towards the one entering his room. _

_The man was slightly taller than himself, with brown hair falling in gentle waves down to his shoulders. He was dressed in a white shirt tucked into black pants with several belts looped around his waist, a cropped jacket with short sleeves, and a fur lined collar graced his shoulders. A small pendant sat proudly on his chest; a lion head with a small pointed cross below it. There were three more belts wrapped firmly around his left forearm and wrist, leading down to black leather gloved hands. In a holster on his waist sat an odd weapon that Cloud had never seen before. It looked to be a mix of both a gun and a sword, and from the end of the hand grip, another lion head dangled. _

_The man fixed him with piercing blue-grey eyes that seemed to swirl with hidden thoughts and emotions. The only blemish on the man would be the scar that ran diagonally down his face._

"_Strife, meet Griever. He will be your new partner." Xigbar said, after giving the two a chance to size the other up. _

_Cloud merely grunted as he finally looked at the hidden grace and stance of a warrior in the man before him. Xigbar knew then that he had won his argument and that the stubborn blond would at least give the new partner a chance._

_Walking out without another word, he left he two men together as he pulled a small phone from the pocket of his coat._

"_Sir?" He said calling the memorised number, "It's done. Strife seemed to calm down slightly after actually meeting Griever." _

"Good, we cannot risk losing him."_ Came the monotone reply. _

_Xigbar ended the call and smirked, he would get a nice pay check for this service..._

_Griever looked at the blond on the bed; he was covered in injuries that would leave most people howling in pain, and yet he could detect very little pain coming from the man before him. Either the blond was extremely good with pain, or he was very good at hiding it. Perhaps a mix of both?_

_Griever then turned his thoughts to how the blond would end up in this condition in the first place, from what he had heard Xigbar say, the blond was an experienced fighter and an valuable member of Shield. Maybe he got careless?_

"_I know what you're thinking." The blond said suddenly, surprising him out of his thoughts, "You're wondering how I ended up here?"_

_Griever was honestly shocked; no one had been able to tell what he was thinking before, at least not without him giving them several hints first. _

"_I'll take that as a 'yes'." The blond continued. "It's simple really; mission was compromised. I was ambushed."_

_Griever nodded slightly at that. He could understand the consequences of such a thing, especially when one was working alone. _

_Cloud watched the thoughts passing in the other's eyes, and for some reason he felt that he could continue talking to this strange man. _

"_So is Griever a name or title?" He asked, wondering if he could worm a verbal reply out of the apparently silent man. Griever indicated the latter, but did so without a single word. Cloud raised an eyebrow at that. Why would Xigbar introduce the man with his title and not his name?_

"_Do you have a name?" Cloud questioned simply, getting a nod in reply. "Will you tell me what it is?" The blond asked, wondering if he would._

_When the brunette man simply stared at him Cloud knew he would get no answer today and moved to shrug slightly, only to end up wincing as pain shot up through his shoulder and chest from the movement. _

_After that, the two fell into an almost comfortable silence, Cloud warring with himself over whether or not he should let himself trust the man before him when he didn't even know so much as a name. And yet, his instincts told him that the brunette could be trusted._

_Eventually Cloud began to fade off to sleep, the silence of the room and his injuries working to push his weariness to the front of him mind. Just before he completely fell into the darkness of unconsciousness, a single word filled his mind when a smooth voice sounded close by. _

"_Leon..."_

_In that moment as sleep finally pulled him under, he decided that he would trust in this man; this Leon... It would be what Zack would have wanted him to do..._

* * *

To say the 3rd district of Traverse Town was in ruins would be an under statement. All around them, building were in ruins; nothing more than piles of rubble in some cases. There were some buildings that still stood, but no one in the group would trust the structure of those.

Despite the rising sun, there seemed to be a gloomy atmosphere that refused to lift within the abandoned district, there was even a soft fog that travelled along the ground around the groups feet and the surrounding area.

"Cheery place." Axel muttered, tempted to set something on fire to simply make _something_ look like it held life here.

"Come on." Cloud said, eyes scanning over the area, "Let's just get this over with."

Since entering the area, the feeling of being watched had only intensified, so Cloud was hoping that the information orb could be located quickly so they could leave. Moving forward with Leon, the two selected a fairly clear path through the rubble that led off to the right, while Axel and Roxas did the same only to the left. All around them the remains of battle still existed; with rusted, useless weaponry still laying about, stains littered the walls that would have once been vibrant red blood, and on occasion, the remains of person or people would be there, simply laying scattered over their path.

Pulling out a small device that was suppose to react to the unique energy signature of the information orb when they were within a certain distance of it, Cloud truly began the task they had been given. However the feeling of being watched never left him and as they moved deeper into the abandoned district Cloud felt that it was getting closer. Stopping abruptly and scanning the structures around him for any sign of the source of his bad feeling, Cloud could find nothing and that put him on edge even more.

"You ok?" Leon asked, looking around as well trying to locate the reason why the blond was so tense.

"...Fine." Cloud replied after a moment, turning his attention back to the small device in his hands as they continued walking.

Half an hour later and the device began to beep softly, meaning that they were fairly close to the information orb. Cloud let out a sigh that he hadn't realised he had been holding in until then. Leon looked at him questioningly before tuning his attention to the small screen on the device, on the screen there was a faint and very soft blimp of light flashing in the far left corner.

"Good. Let's get this thing so we can go." Cloud grumbled, revealing to Leon just how on edge the blond was. Although he couldn't guess why.

Attempting to find a direct path through the ruins proved to be quite difficult, but eventually they were able to get a definite coordinate from the device as they moved close enough to the information orb. They should be within 50 meters now.

They came to the edge of a still standing building, and looked up at the crumbing structure. Neither particularly wanted to step foot in a building that looked as though it would fall at any second, but both knew that the orb was their top priority and that they were expected to get it regardless of the situation.

Moving into the building first, Cloud made it a point to check the floors for stability before his heavier partner came in. Figuring it would hold, he called Leon it and they both moved through the structure until it seemed they were directly on the flashing light. Finding the room they were in completely bare, they knew that they had to be on the wrong floor.

Fiddling with the device for a while, Cloud was able to bring up a rough street view of the building from the side, showing that the structure was quite a bit larger than they had originally thought. After playing with the device for a but longer Cloud managed to locate the orb on the top floor.

"Great." Cloud muttered, "A building that is ready to go down, and he have to go to the top."

"Well, we are this close now." Leon pointed out, before stepping aside to allow Cloud to go first with the device.

When they found the stairs, Cloud couldn't help by think that once they had the orb it would probably be safer to jump from the top floor than risk two journeys on the rotted wooden stairs.

"Be careful where you step." He cautioned Leon as he began his own trek up the treacherous stairs, being careful to test the wood before placing his weight on it. There were a few times during the climb that the wood nearly gave way, but thankfully neither men were foolish enough to put their full weight on those steps and they both made it to the top in one piece.

Moving towards the room that would hopefully hold the orb both Leon and Cloud had to tread very carefully as the floor under their feet creaked dangerously with each step. At the door to the room to two men looked inside. It was a mess with old, yellowed papers scattered everywhere, books lying around the room and furniture left over turned.

Cloud moved in first, great full that that he floor didn't collapse under him, however when Leon moved to follow the floor did give a groan that made both men freeze. Cloud looked to where his heavier partner stood, one foot just inside the room, Leon was frozen in his movements, and while his face hid any concern he may have had, both men knew that it would be very bad if the floor was to collapse now.

"Uh... Just wait there." Cloud said, for once thankful for his lighter build. Turning once again towards the room, the blond moved carefully towards the exact point where the locator device told him the information orb should be. The only sounds in the room where the increasing sounds of the device and Cloud's breath as he carefully moved through the carnage in the room.

Finally the device registered a single long sound saying the orb was within reach. Turning the device off and pocketing it, Cloud looked around the floor at his feet for the orb amongst the papers and books there. Finding a small, half-burnt box Cloud picked it up and carefully opened the fragile lid. Nestled inside was a softly glowing green orb, no bigger than the palm of his hand. Taking the orb out, Cloud made sure to securely pocket the item before turning back to Leon with a soft smirk on his face.

"Let's mosey." He said, feeling much better knowing that they could now leave. Leon allowed a small upturning of his lips at the blond's comment before nodding his agreement.

Stepping back the way he came, Cloud noticed a slight movement from the edge of the room and looked over to a desk that was the only piece of furniture in the room still standing. He froze upon meeting big yellow eyes from within the shadows.

"Shit..." He muttered, knowing exactly what it was. He also knew that they rarely moved alone, instead preferring to move in large groups because of their individual weakness. Sure enough, as he looked around the room, several other pairs of luminous yellow eyes stared back at him.

Leon who had seen what his partner had, made a move to draw his Gunblade and step into the room froze instantly again when the floor gave another loud groan.

"Just... stay there." Cloud said, his own hand moving to the sword strapped to his back. As if in answer to his movement, the small black shadows moved forward from their hiding places, revealing small, insect-like bodies with two long antenna protruding from their heads.

Cloud began slowly making his way towards his partner, keeping his hand on the handle of First Tsurugi. He could only curse when five of the small creatures moved to block his path. A tense moment passed where no one moved, Cloud not wanting to initiate a fight on fragile flooring, Leon not being able to move into the room where his added weight would collapse the floor, and the small shadows, or Heartless as they were called by the people, simply watching their prey with interest.

Cloud nearly jumped when the radio attached to his belt came to life with a loud crackle of static.

"Yo, Fenrir! Any luck on your end?" Axel's voice cut though the silence of the room like a hot iron. Cloud wanted to strangle the red-head in that instant as he watched the small yellow eyes on him seem to zero in on his waist.

Slowly moving his hand to his belt, Cloud grabbed the radio as Axel's voice came back through the line, singing his call name like a choir girl as he obviously thought Cloud was ignoring him.

"Fenrir here..." He said slowly, hoping to get the message across that something wasn't right, "We have a situation here with some-" Anything further that he was going to say was cut off when the creatures, who had seemed to react to him saying his call name, sprang forward all at once.

Cloud was forced to drop the radio as he brought First Tsurugi up and around in a swinging motion at the Heartless attacking him. His blade cut through the creatures easily, but it was the sudden movement that was his undoing as the floor at his feet gave way with a sickening lurch, the blond barely heard Leon yell out his name before his body connected harshly with the floor below, which then gave way as well, Cloud soon found himself crashing through a seemingly endless amount of floors until a particularly hard hit to the head sent him into unconsciousness only halfway through his multi-floor drop...

* * *

"Cloud!" Leon yelled, stepping forward on instinct to try and reach the blond. He had to quickly back track as the floor at his feet started to crumble as well. Luckily the flooring past the door frame seemed stable enough, allowing Leon to turn and, as quickly as the degraded stairs would allow, make his way down, tracking Cloud's fall downwards while activating the emergency beacon that would lead Roxas and Axel to their location.

Reaching the ground floor, Leon quickly made his way to where he hope the blond would be, but came to just another hole in the floor leading down into a darkness that unsettled the brunette after seeing the amount of shadows on the top floor.

It had always been understood that there would be a small population of the shadows within the barrier; an unfortunate side effect of having to push the shadows back from certain areas to place the barrier; a method that would undoubtedly leave a few behind. But there had been quite a few in the one building... How many were in the whole district?

Pushing the thoughts from his mind, Leon carefully moved to the edge of the hole, thankful when it seemed quite stable. Pulling a small light from his belt, he tried to pierce the darkness before him, but the hole was deep, and the only object that Leon could find was a wall that obviously helped sustain the buildings infrastructure.

Grabbing a small stone that was laying nearby and dropping it into the hole, Leon listened carefully for any sign that there was ground close by. When only a faint _click_ reached his ears, Leon knew that it was a fair distance to the ground below, and as much as he hated it, the brunette knew that he would need to wait for the other team before venturing down into such a place.

"Damn you Strife... You had better be ok..." Leon muttered, sitting nearby to wait for Roxas and Axel.

* * *

It was close to an hour later before Roxas and Axel managed to find the building that Griever was in. At first they had been relieved to see the brunette standing out the front unharmed, but when there was no sight or sound of the blond agent, both men had begun to worry again.

"What happened?" Roxas demanded, walking over to the brunette.

Griever simply turned and walked into the building, leading two confused men to the large hole in the floor. Axel let out a low whistle as he tried to look downwards.

"That's deep." He said and just to prove it he pulled a small piece of wood from the edge of the hole and promptly lit it on fire before dropping it. All three stood around the edges and watched the small light descend for about 50 meters before coming to an abrupt stop and spluttering out almost instantly.

"There is water down there." Axel muttered distastefully.

"Ok," Roxas said, turning to Griever again, "What happened?" The small blond agent knew that the brunette could talk when he wanted to, and he was determined to make him talk to give an explanation to where Strife was.

Griever simply looked at him for a long moment before seeming to come to a decision. As much as he didn't want to speak to these two, Cloud needed his help and he wouldn't be able to explain what had happened without words.

"Heartless attacked." He said, watching mild surprise pass over the faces of the two before him. He suspected that they were more surprised he could talk than the face that the shadows had attacked. "We were on the top floor. The ground gave way."

"Ok..." Roxas said, nodding as he put pieces together in his mind. "So I'm guessing it gave way under Fenrir's feet?" He got a nod from Griever, "So he must have fallen down there... Great."

"Well," Axel said, smirking, "let's go get him." Without waiting for a reply the red-head leapt down into the hole. Seconds later there was a soft thud as he landed, followed by a one of his Chakrams being lit on fire to light up the area.

Without another word Roxas and Griever followed.

Sure enough as the pyromaniac had predicted the cement floor was covered in a thin layer of water. The light from Axel's flame lit up a piles of debris all around them, but it didn't reveal the missing blond anywhere.

Once again pulling the light from his belt Leon proceeded to check the surrounding area, while Roxas and Axel did the same. There was no sign of the blond, and Leon was just turning away when a slight reflectiveness caught his eye and he turned to see Cloud's wolf head pendant sitting not far away.

Walking over, Leon carefully picked up the pendant before shining the light around the area. Looking upwards Leon was just able to catch sight of movement at the very edge of his light and saw a flash of red and blond before it disappeared. Moving closer, Leon found that there was a tunnel that led away from here and he could only hope that whatever had Cloud wasn't a fast runner...


End file.
